Various remotely controlled maneuverable robots typically controlled by an operator control unit have been proposed and are in service in a variety of configurations and for a variety of tasks. Many such robots have an arm with an end effector, some include weapons, and most have cameras for transmitting images to a viewer associated with the operator control unit. See U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2009/0071281 and 2009/0266628 incorporated herein by this reference. Some robots are fairly autonomous.
Aerial video systems have also been proposed. The Draganflyer X6 (Draganfly Innovations, Inc.) can be equipped with cameras. See also U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2010/0044499 and 2008/0245924 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,766,274 incorporated herein by this reference.
Various flying drones equipped with cameras are also known. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,976. Lockheed Martin's RQ-170 Sentinel is an example of an unmanned aerial vehicle. Key design constraints include maneuverability, autonomy, and endurance (flight time). The result is many unmanned vehicles are extremely complex and expensive. The same is true with respect to some aerial video systems such as the gMAV vehicle.
Some aerial video systems, although perhaps less expensive and simpler in design, cannot fly in adverse weather conditions, have limited endurance, little autonomy, and have a limited range. They can be difficult to control and difficult to precisely land.
Robots, on the other hand, have imaging devices such as sensors and cameras that are often very low to the ground such as within one to three feet of the ground thereby offering limited perspective (due to reduced elevation), a very limited look-ahead area to enable three-dimensional sensing and accurate map-building to allow for effective route planning. The operator of a robot may not be able to detect terrain challenges such as ditches, barricades, unscalable boulder fields, and the like, which can limit terrain understanding, enemy-locating capabilities and data-based motion pre-planning. The same is true with respect to unmanned maneuverable robots.